Basics of APA Citation and Referencing Style
Chris Barker and Nancy Pistrang
23 September 2010
The American Psychological Association (APA) writing style prescriptions have been widely
adopted within psychology (including for BPS research journals). The full list, as described in
the APA Publication Manual, is long and detailed: this handout aims to give you the
rudiments of citation and referencing style. It is essential to use these formats accurately and
consistently throughout your thesis (and in any work submitted for publication in psychology
journals).
Citations in the text
Several publications on qualitative research methods (Elliott, Fischer & Rennie, 1999;
Smith & Osborn, 2008; Willig, 2008) discuss ...
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citations within a bracket are in alphabetical order (not date order)
citations are separated by semicolons; authors and date are separated by a comma
cite multiple authors in full the first time; use et al. (note the punctuation) thereafter (but if
there are six or more authors, use et al. throughout)
use an ampersand (&) within the bracket (and in the reference list), “and” otherwise.
Reference list
Journal article
Elliott, R., Fischer, C.T., & Rennie, D.L. (1999). Evolving guidelines for publication of
qualitative research studies in psychology and related fields. British Journal of Clinical
Psychology, 38, 215-229.
Chapter in a book
Smith, J.A., & Osborn, M. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith
(Ed.), Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods (2nd ed., pp. 53-80).
London: Sage.
Complete book
Willig, C. (2008). Introducing qualitative research in psychology: Adventures in theory and
method (2nd ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.
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note usage of punctuation, italics and ampersands (&)
book titles are in lower case; journal titles in title case
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no part numbers needed for journal articles
APA style says include doi details for journal articles – this is not needed for the thesis
Frequently asked questions
How do I cite a secondary source?
If you cite a paper in the text, you are assumed to have read it yourself (and therefore may be
asked about it in the viva). If it is a hard-to-obtain reference, e.g., a conference presentation,
which you have seen cited elsewhere but not read yourself, cite both the primary and the
secondary source. For example, if you want to cite Bloggs (1978), which you saw referred to
in Jones (2006), then your citation would be (Bloggs, 1978, cited in Jones, 2006). For your
thesis, list both works in your reference list (contrary to the APA style guide, which
recommends giving the secondary source only).
How do I cite an unpublished document?
For an unpublished document, the citation in the text should give the date, and the reference
should give the reader information on how to locate the document. For example, for the
following DClinPsy thesis, the citation is Saunders (2008) and the reference is:
Saunders, H. (2008). Effects of expressive writing on physical and psychological symptoms in
women undergoing surgery for gynaecological cancer. Unpublished clinical psychology
doctoral thesis, Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology, University
College London.
How do I cite a website?
If you are citing a web page, your reference list needs to give the full URL (i.e. the web
address). For example, if you are citing the NICE guidelines on depression, in the text give
the citation as (NICE, 2010), and in the reference list, give it as:
NICE (2010). Depression: the treatment and management of depression in adults (update).
Retrieved from http://www.nice.org.uk/CG090
Does each part of the research thesis stand alone as far as the “et al.” rule is concerned?
Each of the three parts of the research thesis (literature review, empirical paper and critical
appraisal) is regarded as a separate paper, and so you should cite each reference in full the
first time you use it in each part (and each part will also have its own reference list).
Further details
American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.:
American Psychological Association. [There is a reference-only copy in the trainee
library.]
http://www.apastyle.org [This site has a good Frequently Asked Questions list and also an
online tutorial.]
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